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| Basilica dell' Osservanza |
None of us had been to Siena and we were so glad we took the day trip from Florence. Siena is home to multiple churches. This basilica was built in the late 15th century. To the left in the distance, you can see the Siena Cathedral, begun in the 12th and completed in the 14th century.
Similar to the Florence Cathedral, the one in Siena is clad with white, green and red marble. It was originally designed to be the largest cathedral in the world, but they later gave up those plans. The wolf suckling Romulus and Remus can be found guarding either side of the cathedral.
The Piazza del Campo in the city center was the backdrop of the opening scene of Quantum of Solace. Called the Palio de Siena, the horse race is real and occurs twice a year. Each of the seventeen neighborhoods of Siena, called Contrades, competes in the race. They all have colors, flags and mascots of sorts to identify themselves. These symbols can also be seen throughout the city marking the territory of each neighborhood.
There was more to Siena than architecture, however. The views from the hilltop town were amazing. The people were renowned for their cultivation of the earth. In order to do this, they followed in their Roman ancestor's footsteps and built aqueducts and other mechanisms for distributing the scarce water to the fields.
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| Nice View, huh? |
There were giant fish in this crystal clear water. It appears that it is an old mineral bath.
Saint Catherine was one of the two patron saints of Italy. She was one of 25 children from a family from Siena. Caterina, who shares her Italian name with Katie, was drawn to religion at the young age of 5. She continued to make a name for herself until she died at 33. Saint Catherine's body is entombed in Rome. However, her head remains in Siena in a gilt bust in the Basilica Caterina.
The remainder of our time in Siena was spent lounging in the sun and experiencing the Enoteca Italiana. The Enoteca is basically a tasting room for local and very nice wines that is housed inside the city's old fortress.
This is basically where we parted ways with Greg and Katie. They headed out to their second week of Italy on the Amalfi coast and Jeff and I had a much anticipated weekend planned in the Cinque Terre.
